Matt Adrian spoke about Small Groups in a Break-out session at the 2015 BBFI Meeting in Springfield, Missouri (High Street Baptist). We don’t have much of a small group ministry. But after hearing him, I think it is something we need to make another attempt at. Matt serves at Crosspointe Church in Yorba Linda, California. This is what I was able to write down. He’s a great communicator.
The Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20): The purpose of every believer, therefore the church, is discipleship.
What’s a disciple? Matthew 4:19-20: Within the invitation is a definition.
The discipleship equation: Follow Jesus > He will make you (transformed by Jesus) > There will be fruit in your life.
Sanctification is hard. If it’s not:
1. You probably live in a vacuum.
2. You’re not actually being sanctified.
3. You’re Jesus.
Life is too hard to play solo, so God put us in teams. Jesus didn’t say ‘I will build my disciple’ but ‘I will build my church.’ Church is vital to Christian growth. We must live out the ‘one another’ commands in the New Testament.
So how do we create environments that allow for discipleship and the ‘one anthers’? An answer for our culture is small groups.
1. Socially there is a need for small groups.
We exist, relate, socialize, learn and grow in 4 physical spaces: (1) Public space of 200 or more with little or no interaction. Example: church, mall, stadium. (2) Social space (acquaintances) of 5-20 where we know their names but not their business. (3) Personal space (friends) of 2-5 people who we know details of their life. Example: couch, car, coffee shop, table. (4) Intimate space (spouse/best friend) of 1 other person who knows your secrets. Example: bedroom, private dining, one-to-one meeting.
All four spaces are needed, important and useful. There’s a deficit of social space. We live in a time where we’ve never been more connected. However, we’ve never been more lonely.
2. There is a Biblical precedent for small groups.
Jesus formed a small group. The early church in Act met from house to house (Acts 4:46; 5:42; 20:20). Paul oversaw groups of people meeting in homes: Aquila and Priscilla (1 Cor. 16:19; Romans 16:3-5; Philemon 1,2; Col. 4:15.
3. Small groups work.
Pitfalls to avoid with small groups:
– engineering small groups as social gatherings.
– renaming Sunday School.
– Make groups too academic.
– give yourself (pastor/staff) an ‘out’ on being part of a group.
– make small groups just another program.
Practical Ideas:
Crosspointe has small groups follow school calendar with a summer break & Christmas break. They have a 4 month process: Month 1: Focus – meet with team to determine what to do (curriculum, emphasis, etc). Month 2: Form: get hosts & material. Month 3: Fill: recruit members. Suggestion was 1 group per 12-15 of average Sunday attendance. Leader is called ‘Connector.’ Have Connector’s picture on sign-up. Connector criteria: 1- member of the church, 2- doctrinal agreement, 3- prior small group experience.
Matt Adrian
A good way to start is for the pastor to start his own small group of potential small group leaders. Have them experience it themselves. Crosspointe has lots of material available. See crosspointeOC.com/sg.
Crosspointe Church has started to use storytelling in the small groups. The small group discussion is about the previous week’s sermon. Often, a Bible story is used to illustrate the main idea and the ‘Connector’ retells the story in his/her own words. Questions that may be asked: What do you learn about God? What do you learn about people? What person do you most relate to? How does this story illustrate the main point of the sermon?
You can read my other articles about this meeting at: Revitalization.